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Friday, January 27, 2012

Follow your dreams.

Yom shishi, 3 Shevat 5772.

This post is in honor of old friends about to make aliyah, and those who recently arrived Home: Joani and Avrum, Miri and Adina, Moshe Shaul (and his parents), Karen and Shlomo, Yael and Yosef, and all those who are on their way. Josh and Chana, we miss you. Come Home soon.

We were not sure how we would "make it" financially in Israel.

Our kids were not so sure they would find friends, or if they would figure out how to define themselves outside of the social safety and familiarity of their hometown in Baltimore.

Frankly, none of us knew what we were going to be when we grew up, because moving to a new country completely changed the playing field for each and every one of us.

We have chosen to live simply. That has helped with the finances. But self-definition is a critical thing, if one is to look in the mirror at himself each day and say, "Hey, good lookin'. You ARE a success!"

Little did we know that G-d was going to give each of us the chance to be his most true self here in Israel.

I am writing, and besides raising crops of boys, it's all I've ever wanted to do. I play harmonica and percussion in a band with my husband, adding music each week to our home and our hearts. I'm hosting soldiers and yeshiva bochrim in my home for Shabbat, surrounded by their love of life, of each other, and of G-d and His Holy Nation.

Stunt Man is "chai b'seret," living in a movie. Whether jumping from planes or busking with his guitar in Ben Yehuda, he's living dreams he wouldn't have encountered in the same way in the Old Country. And if you've known him most of his life, you know that his self-definition is getting kick-started in this first exciting reel.

Yeshiva Bochur has gone through changes in self-discovery he never could have encountered anywhere else. So far, we like what we see, whether he's soldiering, arguing Torah with anyone who'll listen, or making music. He is seeing in himself and the friends around him the potential to really matter, to make a real impact in his generation.

Sports Guy and his father, aka "Coach," are experiencing dreams they never would have imagined in the US.

The following film was made at then end of the last football season by Zevie Tannenbaum, one of the talented young people in this country who appears to be following his dream of making really well-put-together movies. Look for #20, aka "Golden Shoes," to see Sports Guy among his friends and peers, his fellow gridiron warriors. I'm just as proud of the Dearly Beloved, as he gives his boys loving guidance, and heart-felt kudos at the end of the game.

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FROM BIG WINE TO BIG GRAPES : A collection of essays on aliyah and life in Israel

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About Me

I am anxious for everyone to get along, starting with the Jews. Scratch that. Starting with religious Jews. Hmmmm... probably still a lot to strive for. How about religious Jews in Israel? In Gush Etzion? In my yishuv? How about let's just start with my family. Okay, guys. As Abba says, "World peace starts at this table." Let's get our act together, and bring Moshiach.

In small ways, every day, I try to to do my part to rectify the error in judgment of my zaydies, the meraglim. "See these big grapes? We can make really big wine!"